You might know Space 62 best for virtual reality — the Ala Moana spot built its name on VR — but its first Collectibles Show made the case that they’re about all forms of entertainment. Over June 26–28, up on the Ala Moana Center annex, they ran a Friday trade night plus two full show days.
Here’s something we didn’t know until this weekend: outer space officially starts about 62 miles up. Fitting for the name — because the thing Space 62 nailed was space, the physical kind. In a year where card shows keep getting overrun, it delivered the one thing collectors have been missing: room to move. Around 60 vendor tables and 4,800+ collectors across three days — and even with a 2,500-strong Saturday, a floor that still let you breathe.
As the hobby has boomed, demand has outgrown a lot of the rooms it happens in: packed aisles, shoulder-to-shoulder, sometimes hard to even get to a table. Space 62 struck a different balance — a healthy vendor-to-collector ratio and enough room that people could genuinely roam. We heard more than one collector say it was the first time in a while they could freely walk the floor and flip through binders with ease. What makes it notable is the turnout wasn’t small — 500+ Friday, 2,500+ Saturday, 1,800+ Sunday — so keeping the floor navigable through a genuinely busy weekend is the balance everyone’s chasing.
A lot of the energy ran through the MC, Kawika Hoke (@kawikahoke), who worked the floor both days with a voice made for radio and a knack for keeping the room hyped. His “gimme gimme” calls got genuinely creative — our personal favorite was the moment he called out for a Pikachu butt. (Yes, really.) He also hosted the weekend’s live quiz shows — more on those next.
Space 62 made sure the weekend wasn’t only about collecting — it leaned into the other dimensions of the hobby, from playing to immersing yourself in the IPs behind the cards. A few of the moments people kept mentioning: four live quiz shows (popular enough that the team plans to run more), cosplayers repping their favorite characters — with a full cosplay competition already planned for the next big show — and local artist Anh Vu (@onk97) drawing live on-site.
The play side had its own draw: the Sunday tournament filled the gaming area, and Space 62 is rolling out casual-play tournaments every Sunday going forward.
You could feel the experience behind the scenes. Vendors were taken care of — water from Waiakea and lunches from La Tour Bakehouse — the kind of touch that tells you the organizers have stood behind a table themselves. You can see Chase (@chazer808) pouring his own years in the hobby into how this one was run.
The giveaways were no joke, either: over $10,000 in raffle prizes — sponsored by the vendors and Collectr — kept collectors engaged, and gave the friends and family who came through with them plenty to enjoy too. And when Saturday’s 2,500+ drew a line out the door, the team trickled people in rather than cramming the room, keeping it comfortable for everyone already inside. It ran a touch warm indoors — but warm-and-roomy beats warm-and-crammed, and that was a deliberate call.
The Space 62 crew summed it up better than we could — in their own words, “beyond grateful for a successful weekend” for their first show, with a mahalo to everyone who turned an admission can into those 40+ boxes for the Hawaii Food Bank. And @sarukofamcollects caught the weekend on video:
With the show wrapped, Space 62 heads back into shop mode — but they’re not slowing down. Casual-play tournaments run every Sunday going forward, with trade nights and more out of their Ala Moana spot — and they’re already teasing a full cosplay competition at their next big show. Follow @space62honolulu for what’s next, and keep an eye on @hawaiicardshows — we post new shows across the islands as they come up.
Weekly tournaments, trade nights, and more at Ala Moana. Follow @space62honolulu for dates.
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